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Motor : Kovalainen to undergo further medical tests

BARCELONA: Heikki Kovalainen will remain in a Barcelona hospital for a second night to undergo further medical tests following a high-speed crash at the Spanish Grand Prix.

The McLaren driver was travelling at 150-mph when his car went off the track and slammed into the protective wall at the Circuit de Catalunya on Sunday. The 26-year-old Finn, who was briefly unconscious, was taken by helicopter to a local hospital but escaped without serious injuries.

In good spirits

Hospital spokesman Pilar Caballero said on Monday that Kovalainen was in good spirits and that the extra day of tests were routine.

“I am happy with how Heikki is doing,” McLaren team doctor Aki Hintsa said. “Considering the crash he had, he is doing very well. He has had a full head scan and there is no significant bruising or damage — that’s extremely good news,” McLaren team CEO Martin Whitmarsh said in a statement.

“Heikki was briefly unconscious but he was lucid soon after the accident and I’m told he was actually quite jolly, which is fairly typical.” — AP